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Q-Factor

Having dinner tonight with two friends. One overweight male friend who is searching for new wide shoes, because he feels that his feet is sliding to the outside of his shoes and causing various pains. The second, a slender tall female who is having swelling and slight pain on the outside of her feet; who has less pain now after shifting from speedplay to look/keo pedals/cleats.

We moved her to the wider pedal/cleat system to see if that would address her outer foot pains/issues. It seems to be better, but not fully resolved yet.

The male and I are somewhat experienced (15yrs+) triathletes, while the female is new-ish to triathlon (but long-time runner).

The issue came up of Q-factor (I guess you'd call it the center of the pedal/cleat moving farther away from the center of the bike)...Would there be less pain/issues if the q-factor was increased from the center of the bike? I say - for these particular athletes - it darn well could. It's at least worth a try ($35-40 for spacers).

Obviously, anatomy comes into play significantly when talking about bike fit, but I contended that most, if not all discussions, around bike fit are centered around stack and reach, and NEVER the q-factor.

Discuss...

Comments

  • @Scott Alexander Thanks for sharing. My first step here would be to check their cycling insoles. Most cycling shoes have JACK SQUAT in there; I run some custom orthotics made eons ago...I have high arches. I suggest they pull out the stock one and put their run shoe one in there and see how it goes. Could well be that without arch support, all the weight/pressure is on the outside of the foot...and that change involves no bolts, etc. Keep me posted!

    ~ Coach P

  • I agree with the insoles. I use high arch insoles in my bike shoes and normal insoles in my running shoes. I think it helps.

  • When I had my Ventum fit here locally at Cyclologic, they considered everything. He recommended new shoes that had a wider base like Lake and Bont. and also longer axles for my Speedplay pedals. He put the maximum amount of washers on the pedals, but didn't have the longer axles in stock. Have you added some washers yet?

    I would assume any good bike fitter would assess everything.

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